Battery is defined by American common law as "any unlawful and/or unwanted touching of the person of another by the aggressor, or by a substance put in motion by them".
[1] However, it is assumed that everyday encounters (such as making contact with others on public transportation) are consented to and not punishable.
In practice, if charged with such an offence, the wording will read "assault by beating", but this means the same as "battery".
There is no separate offence for a battery relating to domestic violence; however, the introduction of the crime of "controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship" in section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015[4] has given rise to new sentencing guidelines[5] that take into account significant aggravating factors such as abuse of trust, resulting in potentially longer sentences for acts of battery within the context of domestic violence.
[7] This decision was criticised in Haystead v DPP[8] where the Divisional court expressed the obiter opinion that battery remains a common law offence.
Article 116[11] of the Russian Criminal Code provides that battery or similar violent actions which cause pain are an offence.
[citation needed] Under modern statutory schemes, battery is often divided into grades that determine the severity of punishment.
In some jurisdictions, the charge of criminal battery also requires evidence of a mental state (mens rea).
Aggravated battery is, typically, offensive touching without a tool or weapon with attempt to harm or restrain.